Oklahoma City Venue VZDs Closes After 38 Years

VZD’s has been a favorite lunch, happy hour and dinner destination in Oklahoma City for over 38 years. The venue was established in 1976 in the site of store #21 of the historic Veazey Drug chain.

For the past 24 years, Chad Bleakley has been the owner of VZDs. He blames the closing on his personal health, as well as several factors.

“The last ten years have presented a multitude of challenges with which I could not overcome. Legislation that banned smoking at VZD’s, while exempting bars and casinos, took a dramatic toll on revenues. Litigation challenged the accessibility of the building in which VZD’s is a tenant. The legal fees and the resulting modifications for which the restaurant had to pay under its lease exceeded $100,000.”

But, Bleakley is hopeful VZDs will fall into the right hands.

“I’m currently working with others to pick up the torch and carry on the tradition of VZD’s, just as I did 24 years ago. It has a loyal staff of great employees and is a unique institution worth continuing. I want to thank all who have supported it and me through all these years.”

On a personal note, damn this is a hard one. I’ve rang in NYE at VZDs. I’ve seen performances by Those Legendary Shack Shakers, Twenty Minutes to Vegas, and countless others. I’ve seen El Paso Hot Button and Gravity Propulsion System play to a packed room, including dudes from Hinder. I used to DJ there. Heck, I was in a commercial for VZDs.

I hope someone brings it back on board. And for all that is holy, don’t change a damn thing about those burgers.